Ms Isolde Ó Brolcháin Carmody:

I have a few points to make on this. I work with a lot of community-based and voluntary-based organisations.

Blocking funding is extremely counterproductive when a small organisation is involved. As it is, many small organisations come up against grant systems whereby they must spend money before they can get money back. That does not help if an organisation has no money. Incentivisation is the way to go. A lot of clubs and businesses would be able to do much more in the context of accessibility if there was funding for making their premises, etc., accessible. There needs to be incentivisation rather than penalisation.

We need a per cent for accessibility scheme. The Per Cent for Art scheme, whereby any public infrastructure works must include public art, has been very successful and has really increased the presence of art in our everyday lives. Why can we not have a per cent for accessibility scheme where any public money going to any body for any purpose must have accessibility and inclusion built into it so that it is a prerequisite for all public money? As I have said previously, we are everywhere. We are not only in day services.

Huge amounts could be in invested in making every sports club and leisure centre in the country accessible, but if we cannot get out our own front doors, then those facilities are no use to us. I am in receipt of the personal assistance service. This is meant to facilitate me living independently. However, Louise's description of what it is like to live in an institution describes my everyday life. I do not have transport because I live in a rural area. There is no public transport. There is no motorised transport grant. I cannot get an accessible vehicle. I would need to pay a driver to get me anywhere. I get basic home care, which currently does not cover my needs because my needs change all the time. The personal assistance service needs to be taken out of the hands of the HSE, which is where it is the moment, because it really prohibits a person from using his or her personal assistant for work or social activities. How is this helping our inclusion? We need to have a much greater level of support for our independent lives, which will make sense of investing in making all of these facilities accessible.